What Is Hope?

Q

Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Well then, what is hope? Sometimes it seems like I can’t win for losing.

A

The Greek word translated hope means “to have an expectation”. As believers, we have an expectation (a hope) of spending eternity with the Lord. And because of our faith in what He accomplished for us, we can be sure that what we hope for will come to fruition. Some call this our “blessed assurance”.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen (what is happening in this world), but on what is unseen (what will happen in the next world). For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

In other words, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). What is happening here will soon be over for us, but what will happen there will last forever.